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It’s the reason the Edmonton Oil Kings selected the Winnipeg product with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft.

But now, four years into his tenure with the club, the son of former NHL goaltender Rick St. Croix, has become more than just an offensive threat.

“The offensive stuff has always come natural to me,” St. Croix said. “Scoring goals and setting up plays is something that I’ve always done well, even though you have to keep working on it. But if I can round out my game and become a better two-way guy, become a good back-checker, be better in my defensive zone, then I think that’s going to be the best thing for me.”

A fourth-round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2011 NHL draft, St. Croix knows in order to make the jump to the next level, he has to learn to play both ends of the ice.

The road to the NHL is littered with junior scoring talents that never became familiar with their own zone.

“Mike’s the type of kid that is a gifted goal scorer, he just loves to score goals and that energizes him,” said Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal. “We’re trying to teach him how to play on both sides of the puck and we’re seeing improvement in that regard. We saw a great back-check from him in the third period (Tuesday) night.”

St. Croix was kept off the scoresheet in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the Calgary Hitmen, but he broke up a play in front of the Oil Kings net in the third period prevented the Hitmen from clawing back.

One area where both St. Croix and the Oil Kings are dominating this season is on special teams. The Oil Kings are converting on nearly 30% of their power-play opportunities, while St. Croix has league-leading 13 power-play goals.

St. Croix still went into the Christmas break as the Oil Kings leading scorer (19G, 25A in 35 games).

But he’ll be hard-pressed to improve on last seasons’s totals of 45G and 60A for 105 points.

“Obviously there is some pressure that comes with that, but the bottom line is that I want to keep developing in all aspects of my game,” St. Croix said.

“It’s hockey. Sometimes things are going to go in for you and sometimes they’re not.

“I feel this year I’m definitely a better hockey player then I was last year and I’ve developed in lots of ways. Last year I felt that lots of pucks were going into the net, even though I wasn’t getting tons of chances. This year, I feel like I’m getting a lot more chances and sometimes it feels like the puck just doesn’t want to go in. But I definitely feel like I’m getting better as a player.”

St. Croix’s season parallels his team’s fortunes this year.

Having returned the core of the group that won the WHL title last season, the Oil Kings were expected to dominate this year and march to a second-consecutive title.

Even though they did go into the break first in the in the Eastern Conference, things have not come easy for the Oil Kings.

Conversely, St. Croix was expected to tear up the league this year.

“Every year is going to be different,” he said. “We have a lot of returning guys, but also some new faces and it’s going to take some time for everyone to adapt to each other.

“But I think throughout the season, everyone is becoming a tighter knit group, and it’s pretty cool to see how it’s coming along here.”

Edmonton Oil Kings' Michael St. Croix not ignoring defensive side

It’s the reason the Edmonton Oil Kings selected the Winnipeg product with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft.

But now, four years into his tenure with the club, the son of former NHL goaltender Rick St. Croix, has become more than just an offensive threat.

“The offensive stuff has always come natural to me,” St. Croix said. “Scoring goals and setting up plays is something that I’ve always done well, even though you have to keep working on it. But if I can round out my game and become a better two-way guy, become a good back-checker, be better in my defensive zone, then I think that’s going to be the best thing for me.”

A fourth-round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2011 NHL draft, St. Croix knows in order to make the jump to the next level, he has to learn to play both ends of the ice.

The road to the NHL is littered with junior scoring talents that never became familiar wi